Destination: Plymouth, New Hampshire

Christian Bisson
Associate professor of adventure education
Co-editor, Teaching Adventure Education: Best Practices, 2009

Photo by PSU adventure education major Chris Grosjean

Six years ago, Christian Bisson was a tenure-track faculty member at a small college in Wisconsin. He and his wife had recently had a child. He certainly wasn’t looking to move halfway across the country.

But Plymouth State University—and Plymouth, N.H.—were too good to pass up.

“When I saw this position, by chance, I thought it was perfect,” says the associate professor of adventure education. “The location is excellent. We’re between the mountains and the Lakes Region, but also right on the highway. So we’re near mountains, lakes, forests … but can also easily get to urban areas, like Boston or Montreal.”

It’s an understatement to call Bisson an avid outdoorsman. The Quebec native has spent nearly two decades working in outdoor and adventure education with the National Outdoor Leadership School. At PSU, he teaches classes in rock climbing, canoeing, wilderness expedition, and adventure leadership, as well as theory classes in adventure education. He has led expeditions all over North America and a service learning trip in Nepal, while his personal travels have brought him to Australia and New Zealand.

And from this well-traveled perspective, he has a great appreciation for everything the Plymouth area has to offer. “This region has a beautiful history, connected to both our natural environment and the birth of this nation,” Bisson says. “There is also a deep connection to the history of mountaineering and adventure. There is a passion for outdoor recreation that is fed by the physical geology: the mountains, cliffs, forests, rivers, lakes.

“The White Mountain National Forest is a hub for adventure in the northeast,” he says, noting that the area receives more visitors each year than the nation’s most beloved national parks. “But even though it’s a popular place to visit, or for people to have second homes, I never feel it’s overcrowded.”

As important as PSU’s natural surroundings were to Bisson’s decision to move, however, location alone would not have been enough. “The university itself was a good fit,” he says. “It’s a good size—not too big, not too small. The students in the adventure education program are like an extended family.”

Adventure education students on the trail in the White Mountains. Photo by PSU student Arlin Goss.

Bisson found his own values reflected in the university. “I did my research and discovered the motto, [Ut prosim] ‘That I may serve,’” he says. “It fit perfectly with my own personal philosophy and the philosophy of the field of adventure education. Here, it is easy to involve students in service projects as part of their course work.”

PSU’s efforts toward environmental sustainability are important to Bisson as well. “The year I arrived, there was a theme of sustainability on campus,” he says. “Then it grew beyond a one-year theme, and there has been a commitment from the administration and faculty to work toward becoming a sustainable university.”

He lists a supportive administration, academic freedom, and an atmosphere of collegiality and respect as other reasons why PSU is right for him. “I also find excellent role models in other faculty members. Whenever I think I’m doing a lot, I look at the people around me and see the work they’re doing, their involvement in the community. It’s very inspirational.”